January 7, 2003 at 10 PM ET on the FX network is event tv: the second season premiere for the network's signature show, the police drama The Shield. Among other accolades, Michael Chiklis just took the Emmy for lead actor in a drama for his portrayal of Vic Mackey. This was the only just outcome. The only argument would be how much of the credit should be given to Chiklis' acting performance versus how much should go to the brilliant writing.

The ethical outlook of the character comes nicely summarized in a scene from the pilot episode in which a child molester perp in the interrogation room asks on first meeting Vic, "Is it your turn to play bad cop?" Vic's classic character defining answer: "No. Good cop and bad cop left for the day. I'm a different kind of cop."

He's coming straight out of Nietzche- he's beyond good and evil. He's not evil or even amoral, but neither does he have a real firm set of do's and don't's. He certainly has little regard for the narrow specifics of the law or police handbook "ethics." He has (mostly) benificient goals, but no regard for external boundaries and few firm internal rules.

Of course, this is slippy and treacherous grounding, lacking clear groundposts. This is particularly dangerous when you are a cop using deadly force. The final scene of the pilot shows Vic's original sin, which will inevitably underscore the entire run of the series: Vic Mackey absolutely bluntly assassinates a brother officer planted on his team as a snitch.

As you can see, he's not just a "good cop" who might bend the rules a little in frustration, a la Dirty Harry. He thinks nothing of planting evidence or taking payoffs from drug dealers. Yet he undeniably operates with the principle goal of serving and protecting the public.